You Finally Have a Small Business Website – Now What?
It is hard to believe that there are still companies without active websites. Nonetheless, it’s true. Convincing some small business is to get online is like pulling teeth. And once you succeed, there is plenty more to do after that. Think of a small business that finally has its first website. Now what?
If you find yourself in that very position, you are not alone. It’s not unusual for small businesses to pay web developers to get them online, only to then be abandoned. Here’s the thing: getting a website up is just the start. The website will be of very little value if you don’t do something with it.
Your first priority should be local SEO services. Given that you have gone this long without a website, it is a safe bet that your business is primarily a local one. Therefore, making the best use of your site as a marketing tool starts with local SEO performance.
The Basics of SEO
SEO is an acronym that stands for ‘search engine optimization’. It is the practice of doing certain things to ensure that a website appears on the first page of when people run searches on related topics. It is necessary for the simple fact that most internet users never get beyond that first page. If your website doesn’t show up on the first page, the chances of new customers finding it through an organic search are pretty slim.
Companies like Salt Lake City-based Webtek Digital Marketing rely on proven strategies to maximize SEO. Those strategies include:
- utilizing the right keywords in content
- building strong outbound and inbound links
- optimizing page titles, descriptions, and images
- creating searchable content.
SEO can be applied in a very broad sense or optimized for local effectiveness. A global corporation would choose the broader approach because its audience is much larger. But a small business with its very first website is more likely to need SEO services with a strong local emphasis.
What Local SEO Accomplishes
Local SEO services do the same thing as general SEO but with a focus on a local audience. The best way to explain this is with an illustration. Imagine a local roofing company that just got its first website up and running. It doesn’t serve customers on the other side of the state. The company does not install roofs across the country. Its focus is on local homeowners.
Local SEO services are designed to do well in organic searches when local residents are searching for roofing services in their area. And for the record, that’s exactly how people search for local services. They enter the service they are looking for and then throw in some sort of local modifier.
Some people just add the phrase ‘near me’ to the search query. Others type in their city name or zip code. The point is that they need local services from a local company. When they go online to search for service providers, they don’t want results from companies that aren’t local.
Local SEO services are designed to return the results local customers want. By putting effort into local SEO, your website should perform better on all the major search engines. What does this tell you about your next move? It says that you should follow up your brand-new website with services designed to maximize its SEO potential.
You can learn to do it yourself or pay a service provider. The latter option is probably the better one. You should devote your valuable time and resources to serving all of those customers local SEO will bring your way.
